


I've Got You

by SlytherinReign



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Asexual Jughead Jones, Childhood Memories, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Hurt/Comfort, I should be writing an essay-oops, M/M, Minor Spoilers, Songfic, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, understanding archie
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-10
Updated: 2017-03-10
Packaged: 2018-10-02 09:08:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,833
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10214204
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SlytherinReign/pseuds/SlytherinReign
Summary: Moments from Archie and Jughead's relationship through the years.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Based on the duet I've Got You from episode 1x06  
> This is my first ever songfic so I'm sorry if it's awful.

_ I get a little bit overwhelmed _

_ But I find you when I need you most _

 

Archie messed up. He knows he’s messed up big time with Betty. What was he thinking, kissing Veronica? He’s looked for Betty in all her favourite haunts, although he hasn’t checked her house, too scared of the chance he could bump into Betty’s mom. The only place in Riverdale that Betty frequents that he hadn’t checked was Pop’s.

It was midnight when Archie walked through Pop’s doors, locking eyes with Jughead before walking up to the counter.

“Pop, Betty hasn’t come in tonight, has she?” As he spoke to the owner of the chock’lit shoppe, he glanced over at Jughead, who was watching him from behind the glowing screen of his laptop. 

“No,” Pop too glanced over at Jughead. “Just the night hawks in tonight.” Archie wasn’t expecting anything less. If he was being truthful, he hadn’t thought that Betty would be here, he just needed an excuse to come here.

“Thanks.” Archie muttered before heading over to Jughead’s booth and standing there awkwardly looking at the boy who once was his best friend. 

“Can I sit, Jughead?” Archie hated the way the words sounded, false and stunted. 

“If you want.” Jughead, from where he was sat, could see the sadness in Archie’s eyes, the way that he refused to make eye contact as he slid into the booth opposite the beanie-clad boy. They took a few moments to regard each other, they hadn’t spoken this much since before summer. Archie could see the dark circles under Jughead’s eyes that made his usually pale face look even paler in the glow of the laptop screen and the neon lights from Pop’s signs.

“What are you working on?” The normalcy of this conversation was refreshing to the both of them, they needed this comfort. 

 

_ You are the compass that I’ve always held _

_ Because around you I can be myself _

 

With Betty, Jughead was the sleuth, with Veronica he was the emo friend of Betty and Archie, with Reggie he was a punchbag. There were only two people who Jughead felt himself with and one of them was his little sister who was far away from Riverdale. So that left Archie Andrews, the boy who had abandoned him for an illegal affair with their music teacher of all people! The rift between Archie and Jughead was still present in their lives but after the pep rally they had been trying to get past it. That didn’t mean that Jughead was going to start gushing about all his problems to Archie, it just meant they were trying. 

On a particularly bad night, when Jughead couldn’t sleep and had writer’s block, he would wander the streets of Riverdale and let his feet dictate the path he took. More often than not he would end up stood outside the Andrews’ house. He would stand there for a few minutes, eventually pulling his jacket tighter around his body, wishing that he could be in that house watching the glow in the dark stars on Archie’s ceiling slowly fade. Jughead didn’t think he was welcome anymore.

It was the night after the Twilight Drive-In had closed and Jughead was wandering the streets, his huge backpack weighing him down. Unsurprisingly he found himself outside the Andrews’ house once again. This time he was surprised to see Archie sitting out on the veranda huddled in a large blanket.

“Jug,” his voice was broken, as if he had been crying recently. “What are you doing here?” The question was carried away by the wind almost immediately. Sighing, Jughead walked up to the house, placed his bag down and slid  onto the seat next to Archie. Automatically, Archie leaned into Jughead’s side and wrapped the dark-haired boy in the blanket. Jughead was aware that they were pressed together, no gaps between his shoulder and Archie’s, it filled his heart with a warmth that had been missing.

“My feet seemed to know where I was needed tonight, right here, next to my best friend.” Archie smiled, one that didn’t reach his eyes, but lit up his face nonetheless. Only for him would Jughead be this open.

 

_ I’m trying now, I’m turning the page _

 

Jughead had unofficially moved into the Andrews’ house and Archie couldn’t be happier. There was still some tension between them though, but Archie was willing to put that all behind them, he missed his best friend.

“Jug?” Jughead paused, pancake sat on his fork, inches away from his mouth.

“Yeah, Arch?” It was clear to Archie that the thoughts circling around in his brain were moving at hundreds of miles per hour. 

“Can we talk, about us?” Archie knew how those words sounded and he wanted to berate himself for using such a cliched line, and if Jughead’s smirk was anything to go by, he too was amused by the cliche.

“Are you going to confess your undying love for me Arch?” Archie would’ve barked out a laugh at Jughead’s comment, but it was too close to the truth.

“Not exactly,” Jughead froze at the serious tone Archie addressed him with. Putting down his fork, Jughead turned his full attention to Archie, his face softening at the disheartened expression on Archie’s face.

“Shoot man.” Archie couldn’t meet Jughead’s eyes, nor could he work up the courage to say what he was thinking with Jughead’s full attention on him. Jughead waited patiently.

“Jug, I know I’ve been a shitty best friend recently-” Jughead opened his mouth to say something, either a protest or a sarcastic agreement. “No, listen.” Jughead shut his mouth. “I’ve not been a very good best friend, there was all that stuff with Grundy and then I was too focused on my own issues with football and music to realise you were suffering as well. That stuff with your dad is insane, and I’m sorry I left you to deal with that on your own when you shouldn’t have to.” Archie took a deep breath before continuing. “And this is hard for me to say, but I need to tell you, you’ve always been my best friend Juggie, and over the last couple of weeks, I’ve realised that I’ve been thinking about you as more than a friend. I wouldn’t say I love you, yet, but it’s definitely not platonic feelings. Now I don’t want to know if you do or don’t feel the same, because I’m not ready to take anything further than me just telling you, I’m not ready for that. I trying to be your best friend again first.” Archie didn’t notice the small smile that graced Jughead’s face, his cheeks bright red.

 

_ We’re animals, breaking out of our cage _

 

Fred Andrews woke at some stupid hour in the morning, to loud laughs and shouting. Reaching the top of the stairs, Fred could see that the light was on in the kitchen. Slowly he made his way down the stairs, working himself up to shout at Jughead and Archie. The sight that greeted him in the kitchen was two boys both covered in flour and icing. Jughead was sitting on the counter, a wooden spoon in his hand and a mixing bowl in the other. Archie was standing next to him, reaching into the bowl and scooping up the contents with his finger before sticking it in his mouth.

“Stop it, get your own food Andrews!” In retaliation to his food being stolen, Jughead stuck his hand into the bag of flour and threw some at Archie’s face. Fred thought he better step in as Archie too reached into the bag.

“Boys!” Both boys jumped and turned to face the door. “Want to explain what’s going on here?” Fred was trying not to smile, he was so pleased that Archie and Jughead were now best friends again. If he had to suffer being woken up in the middle night because they were being too loud, he was glad it was because they were laughing not fighting.

“Erm… Sorry Dad, we were a little hungry and I suggested baking something.” Archie’s eager to please answer caused Jughead to burst out into giggles that were obscured by the spoon in his mouth. Even though he knew Fred was watching and Archie would be embarrassed, Jughead scooped out a large dollop of icing from the bowl he was still holding, and wiped it on Archie’s cheek. At Archie’s outraged look, both Fred and Jughead burst out laughing and it wasn’t long before Archie joined them. 

“Okay boys, carry on, just keep the noise down. I don’t want Alice Cooper banging on the door tomorrow morning complaining about the noise. And this mess better be cleaned up before I get up tomorrow morning, it’s like you two are wild animals!”

“Technically it’s the morning already, surely you mean when you wake up later today?” Jughead’s cheeky smirk and the fact that Archie was looking at Jughead as if he meant the world stopped Fred from going over and hitting the boy lightly on the back of the head. 

“Shut it Jug.” Fred left the room, but not before turning around last minute to see Jughead lick the icing off of Archie’s face. Both boys smiled softly at each other. 

 

_ There’s nobody, no one, no way who gets me like you do _

_ And I know it ain’t gonna change, you’ll always pull me through _

_ We’re as wild as we can be _

_ I got you and you got me _

_ I got you, you got me _

 

Archie breaks under the pressure of varsity football, school and music within a month. Jughead can see the warning signs and makes sure he has added Archie’s favorite ice cream to Fred’s grocery list. When it does inevitably happen, Jughead is by Archie’s side instantaneously, the ice cream and a couple spoons in one hand, a blanket draped over his arm and Archie’s favorite movies in his other hand. Archie smiles weakly as the blanket is draped over his shoulders and Jughead wraps the other half over his shoulders, reminiscent of that pivotal night on the veranda a few weeks ago.

They sat in silence, making their way through the ice cream until the first movie has ended. By that point Archie’s tears have subsided and Jughead’s arm has made it around Archie’s shoulders.

“Archie?” Jughead prompts, he knows exactly what is wrong with Archie, probably better than Archie himself, and Archie knows that, but he also knows that Archie needs to talk about it. Instead of watching the next movie, Jughead listens to Archie talk about his frustrations, his feelings and his stresses, he doesn’t say anything until Archie finishes.

“It’s the winter vacation soon, I want you to promise me something, I want you to promise that during that time off you don’t worry about football or music or school work. I want you to promise to be a kid for those couple of weeks.” Archie nods against Jughead’s shoulder and Jughead’s arms tighten around his best friend. Sobs left Archie’s mouth once again and Jughead could feel Archie’s body shaking under the force of the sobs, he subtly wiped a tear from his own face, distraught that he couldn’t do anything to stop Archie’s pain. “I’ve got you, I’ve got you” he murmured into Archie’s hair continuously until Archie’s sobs stopped. Looking down at Archie, he noticed that his best friend was asleep. Softly he pressed a kiss to Archie’s brightly colored hair. Fred Andrews watched from the doorway, feeling as if he was once again intruding on a private moment. He smiled as he saw Jughead carefully move Archie to the bed without waking him and curled up around his best friend, both of them covered by the blanket. As Jughead’s eyes closed, Fred closed the door to Archie’s room.

 

_ We grew tall in the same small town, _

_ Stealing shopping carts that we’d race around _

 

It's a cold night when Jughead suggests going out for a walk. It's pitch black outside and the streets are deserted. Archie makes sure to put on a jacket and hands Jughead his varsity jacket, praying that'll his friend will wear it. 

“Archie, I have my own coat.” Jughead is looking at the blue and yellow jacket in distaste, but with one quick glance at Archie’s hopeful face is enough to make him put the jacket on. He actually quite likes the feeling of being Archie’s that comes along with the jacket. He doesn't say anything, still remembering that Archie still isn't ready for anything more, best friends first. 

They leave the house, Archie more than pleased that Jughead looks like his. If anyone saw them they would look the epitome of a couple, Archie half hoped that someone would see them. Without warning Jughead had grabbed Archie’s hand and pulled him down the street, his hand cold against Archie’s warm one. Both boys blushed, unseen in the darkness, at how right this felt. At some point they had become closer, their friendly touches began to linger and their smiles were seen more often. This was one of those times when both were smiling just because. Jughead led the two of them to his treehouse, the small ladder creaking under their weight but the camping light still glowed, even now. 

“I've missed this.” Jughead whispered to the ceiling of the treehouse, the scratches in the wood from their multiple sword fights and other childhood games still there. Archie almost missed Jughead’s words but he entwined his fingers with the paler boy, pulling them both down so they were lying side by side, their hands linking them. Words were not needed as they laid in the treehouse, silence was just as comfortable as the words they could share. 

When they left the treehouse, Archie spotted the shopping cart they had stolen several years ago and abandoned until now.  With one shared look, Archie moved to stand at the end of the cart, his hands on the handle waiting for Jughead to climb in. 

“GO!” With a laugh Archie started to run, pushing the cart in front of him. Laughter fell from Jughead’s lips as the houses flew past them. 

“Faster! Faster!” Archie complied, the smile on Jughead’s face worth the physical exertion. 

 

_ Late at night looking at the stars _

_ Carrying moonbeams home in a mason jar _

 

It was Betty’s idea to make the mason jars that contained the night sky (in reality it was a jar of dark blue and purple paint with glitter mixed throughout). Archie’s sat proudly on his bedside table, the idea a little tacky but the memories it contained were enough. Jughead liked to make fun of the jar, saying it was inaccurate that it lacked constellations and other space things that Archie didn't care about. Archie never said anything in retaliation just to see that shit-eating grin that he loved so much. 

Archie didn’t expect anything further to come from the jar on his bedside table, Jughead seemingly had forgotten to make fun of it for the last few days. It was the coldest night of the year when Archie returned to his room to see Jughead sitting on the window ledge, holding onto the jar containing Archie’s night sky, wrapped in Archie’s letterman jacket. 

“C’mon Arch, I’m going to show you a real night sky.” Without waiting for a response, Jughead pulled himself out of the window and climbed up to the roof. Wrapping himself in another jacket, Archie followed him. Panting slightly, Archie pulled himself up to sit next to Jughead.

“Juggie, it’s freezing, couldn’t we have done this another night?” Jughead just laughs slightly before moving closer to Archie. Archie wasn’t sure how, but his whole body flushed almost immediately and warmth seeped through him. 

“This is a real night sky.” Jughead pointed to the sky. “See there’s Orion, the hunter, and Ursula Major.” Archie watched Jughead as he pointed out and named all the constellations glittering above them. Archie watched the way his lips moved as he pronounced all of the names and his eyes sparkling with the reflections of the stars. Jughead turned to face Archie, shocked with how close his best friend was. 

“Arch-” his breath stuttered past his lips and Archie couldn’t help but press his own lips to Jughead’s. 

There was no fireworks, but Archie could honestly say that it was the best kiss he had ever had. Jughead’s lips were soft but there was a rough patch where he had bitten them. His lips were colder than Archie’s, but that was nice because Archie felt like he was burning up. At some point Archie’s hand had ended up in Jughead’s curls, which were soft and silky and Archie didn’t want to let go, not even after Jughead had pulled away from him.

“So that’s new.” Jughead muttered before leaning in for another kiss.

 

_ I’m ready now, I’m turning that page _

 

“Juggie, you asleep?”

“Yes.” The two of them were sharing Archie’s bed after watching a horror movie that Archie was insistent that he wouldn’t be able to sleep after. Jughead had just laughed at that but crawled under Archie’s covers anyway. 

“I think I’m ready.” Archie continued oblivious to Jughead’s annoyed tone.

“Cool, can we talk about this in the morning, when there’s daylight outside?” Archie watched as Jughead buried his head further into the pillow and pulled the sheets over his head.

“I love you Juggie.” Archie admitted for the second time over the last few months. 

“Love you too, now sleep.” Throwing an arm over Archie and placing his head on Archie’s chest, entangling their legs, Jughead went back to sleep. Satisfied, Archie, too, closed his eyes and dreamt of the dark-haired boy asleep against his chest.

 

_ We’re animals, breaking out of out cage _

 

Jughead had been living at the Andrews’ for just under a year now and Fred was beginning to think that the crazy hijinks had come to an end. Of course, he was wrong. This time, Archie and Jughead had gone out driving for the day, something about a picnic whilst watching the 4th July fireworks. Fred had, of course, let them go without much debate. He was happy that the two of them had each other, they deserved it. However he hadn’t expected them to both come back as if they had been swimming in mud. The only thing that was safe from the mud was Jughead’s beanie.

“What happened this time?” he asked resigned, how many times had he heard himself say those words?

“Well-”

 

Sat on the bank of sweetwater river a year after the beginning of the whole Jason drama, was refreshing and a nice way to end such a strange year. The picnic basket between them was tempting and Jughead couldn’t wait to eat the burgers from Pop’s he knew were in the basket. 

“Why do we have to wait for the fireworks to start again? Can’t I have one burger to keep me going until then?” Jughead laid his head on Archie’s shoulder and looked up at his red-headed boyfriend with wide, round eyes.

“No.” Archie refused to look at his boyfriend, there was no way he could refuse those big ocean eyes. “The fireworks should start any minute anyway” With a loud ‘hmmph’ Jughead tried to pull away from Archie, but Archie wrapped his arm around Jughead’s shoulder in a sideways hug, trapping Jughead against his side. Jughead didn’t complain, just settled into the embrace, a shy smile and a pink blush settling on his face.

Archie was right, the fireworks started in less than five minutes, the bright colors illuminating the night sky. Craning his neck, Archie leant his forehead against Jughead’s and looked into the eyes of his boyfriend before-

 

“Spare me the details boys. I don’t need to know what my son and his boyfriend get up to. On another note, you two are not sharing a bed whilst I am in the house!”

 

The two sat in silence eating the burgers and drinking the milkshakes whilst watching the bright colors light up the sky in pretty patterns. Too quickly, it was time to leave. They held hands as they walked back to Archie’s car, it was pitch black in the woodland and both kept stumbling over unseen roots. It took less for a second for everything to go wrong. Archie stumbled over another unseen root, but this time went stumbling down a ditch. Archie tried to climb back out, but Jughead’s laughter distracted him, it was a beautiful, carefree sound that wasn’t heard enough.

“Juggie! Help me up!” Archie called, his voice stopping Jughead’s laughter immediately.

“Are you hurt?” Jughead’s beanie appeared at the top of the ditch surveying how far down it was. Satisfied with his examination and Archie’s assurance that he was ‘absolutely fine, just stuck in a ditch’ Jughead took his beanie off and placed it in the picnic basket.

“Serious rescue mission?” Archie couldn’t help but laugh.

“Of course,” Jughead feigned offence. “My boyfriend is stuck in a ditch, what type of person would I be, if I didn’t try to save my damsel in distress.” Archie laughed once again,not caring that Jughead had insulted him. 

Jughead’s hand appeared just above his reach. Somehow, with efforts from the both of them, their hands met in the middle and they grasped each other’s hands tightly, pausing for a second to enjoy the feeling of skin against skin, until Jughead fell on top of Archie. Both of them were stuck in the bottom of the ditch covered in mud. 

It took them a while to figure out how to get out of the ditch, many failed attempts had left them both completely covered in mud. Jughead’s curls were dripping mud onto his cheeks and Archie didn’t think there was anything more beautiful than Jughead, even if he was covered in mud. Archie was reluctant to get in his car when they were both covered in mud, but Jughead assured Archie he would help, hulf the dirt would most likely be crumbs from his various snacks.

 

“I’m glad you had a good time boys, but maybe next time you should take a flashlight. Now go get yourselves hosed off before you enter the house, you’re muddier than pigs!” Taking the picnic basket out of Jughead’s hands, Fred Andrews walked back into the house, shaking his head at the walking disaster that was his son and his boyfriend. 

 

_ There’s nobody, no one, no way who gets me like you do _

_ And I know it ain’t gonna change, you’ll always pull me through _

_ We’re as wild as we can be _

_ I got you and you got me _

_ I got you, you got me _

 

Archie and Jughead were alone for the weekend, Fred had gone away on a business trip and left the boys with strict instructions to keep the house in one piece. Friday night finds them curled up in Archie’s bed, Archie kissing down Jughead’s neck.

“No, stop, please.” The distraught sound of Jughead’s voice makes Archie pull away immediately, distancing himself so that no part of his body touches Jughead’s.

“Juggie, what’s wrong?” The boy in question avoids Archie’s eyes and Archie knows immediately that this is not a petty problem. “You know you can tell me anything, right? Nothing’s going to change the fact that I love you.” Archie wants to move closer, to put his arms around Jughead and pull him close to his chest, let Archie be his rock as he has been to Archie so many times. But he doesn’t want to cross a line.

“This might.” Jughead’s voice is so quiet and soft that Archie almost didn’t hear it. Archie laughs, although he didn’t mean to, the notion that Archie could stop loving Jughead at this point is ridiculous. 

“No, nothing is going to make me stop loving you Forsythe Pendleton Jones the Third.” Jughead smiles slightly at that, before frowning at the use of his full name. 

“Archie, I’m-” he takes a deep breath and looks up at Archie fearfully as he lets the breath pass shakily through his lips. Archie shifts forward and entwines his fingers with Jughead’s offering some comfort. Jughead squeezes his hand in return. “Archie, I’m asexual.” He says the words so fast, Archie isn’t sure he heard him right.

“Wait, what?” Jughead looks at him incredulously. 

“I’m asexual, I don’t feel sexual attraction. I don’t get myself off because it feels weird and I’ve never popped a boner over someone else.” Jughead’s words are slow and timid. Archie just smiles.

“Okay, thanks for telling me. You’ll have to tell me when I make you feel uncomfortable, I don’t want to cross any lines.” The smile that Jughead gives him in return lights up the room. Archie thinks the lamp is redundant next to Jughead’s smile. Jughead launches himself into Archie’s arms.

“Thank you.” he whispers into Archie’s hair.

“I’ve got you.” Archie whispers back, the words getting lost in the room.

 

_ Moving up moving on _

_ Headlights go til the dawn _

_ We’re future kings and riot queens _

 

A few days after Jughead came out as asexual the two boys head out on a road trip. They plan to visit all the towns with drive-in theatres, there’s not as many as they thought. Each night they plan to see a different movie, most likely an old classic that only Jughead has seen, but Archie can’t begrudge his boyfriend the pleasure of seeing the films that he, personally, has no interest in. He is here to watch Jughead more than anything else. They set off, waving goodbye to Fred and Betty who are standing on the side of the street. Jughead props his feet up on the dash, his shoes abandoned on the floor of the car and his bright colored socks brushing against the window. Archie just smiles as Jughead takes a bite out of his morning burger from Pop’s. Companionable silence fills the car and both boys smile, excited for the trip.

Less than an hour outside of Riverdale, Jughead plugs his phone into the car’s speaker system and turns the volume up. Teenagers by My Chemical Romance bursts out of the speakers and Jughead and archie share a look before belting out the lyrics, laughing as they do so. The afternoon is filled with loud music and even louder singing and Archie regrets cancelling the last trip they were supposed to have. Jughead as if sensing Archie’s thoughts, leans forward a presses a kiss to Archie’s cheek. The first drive-in they pull into is playing A Streetcar Named Desire and Archie laughs as Jughead groans slightly. 

“I love the play, why did they have to ruin it by casting Marlon Brando as Stanley?” Jughead moans, and Archie laughs leaning into Jughead’s body. Archie enjoys the film a lot more than he wants to admit, but by the smile on Jughead’s face, Archie is sure he knows. Jughead drives them to the closest motel, the headlights beaming light into the ominous darkness that awaits them. When they arrive at the motel, they settle for a room with a King-sized bed.

“See, we’re going to live like Kings on this trip Arch!” Jughead proclaims, jumping onto the freshly made bed.

“I might be a King, but you’re always going to be my Queen Juggie!” He jumps onto the bed landing next to Jughead, missing the fond look of disgust that is sent his way.

 

_ We’re turning up turning on _

_ Nothing’s right when you’re gone _

_ We’re future kings and riot queens _

 

“I don’t want to go.” 

“Well, we’re going Juggie. It’s prom, we can’t not go to prom.” Archie argues, trying to pull Jughead out of his room. They’re both dressed in matching suits with Tiffany Blue ties and boutonnieres. Jughead, of course, is still wearing his beanie and Archie wouldn’t change anything for the world.

“You know I’d much rather stay here and watch a movie and cuddle, right?” The petulant pout on Jughead’s face is childish, so Archie leans in and kisses it off his face, smiling lightly when Jughead melts into the kiss. Hands go up to grab at each other’s waists and shoulders and they don’t pull apart until a bright camera flash dazzles them.

“Right, come on boys, I want a nice photo to send to your mum Archie.” Fred is standing in front of the two of them, a strange look on his face that Jughead links to the realisation that his son is all grown up, and a camera in his hand. Archie winds his arm around Jughead’s waist, and although he’d rather do anything but go to prom, the smile on Archie’s face is worth the terrible music and disapproving glances. Jughead smiles at the camera and wants nothing more to be kept in this moment where he feels like he fully belongs with this family. 

“Right, come on Juggie.” Archie’s hand is so much warmer than Jughead’s and he doesn’t want to let go, but Archie needs both hands to drive, which Jughead thinks, really is a shame. 

The prom is as awful as Jughead expected, but Archie promises him a burger at Pop’s afterwards and Jughead really can’t find it in himself to take Archie’s prom away from him. The music is, as he expected, awful and the dancing is sex-craved and Jughead doesn’t understand, but Archie is enjoying himself. The room goes quiet as Principal Weatherbee steps up onto the stage to announce the Prom King and Queen. Jughead expects Cheryl to be named Prom Queen, so is very surprised when Veronica’s name is called out instead. Jughead has to admit that Veronica looks regal in that crown and Betty looks so proud of her girlfriend. The name of the Prom King surprises him a little, but he admonishes himself, he shouldn’t be too surprised that Archie got Prom King. Plus Archie looks gorgeous in the golden crown. Jughead wants to go up and kiss his boyfriend, but tradition dictates that Prom King and Queen have to dance together. The slow music starts and Archie and Veronica take to the centre of the dance floor. They look so perfect together that he begins to question why Archie would want someone like him. Arms pull him onto the dance floor next to Archie and Veronica, he smiles when he sees it’s Betty. She looks very pretty in her pastel pink dress and for a second he wishes she won Prom Queen, she certainly deserved it, probably more so than Veronica. They dance together, talking quietly, out of the corner of his eye, Jughead spots Veronica and Archie talking seriously in the middle of their dance, he also notes that nobody else has joined them on the dance floor. There is just the Prom King and Queen and their respective dates, odd, Jughead thinks. Archie spins Veronica and she crashes into Betty gracefully, stealing her away from Jughead with a wink and a cheeky grin. Jughead just smiles and turns to Archie who is looking at him.

“Congratulations” Jughead mutters as Archie pulls him close to his body and they begin swaying to the music. 

“You know what would’ve been even better,” Archie begins and Jughead furrows his eyebrows at his regal boyfriend. “If I could’ve danced with you, you’re wearing a crown, so it wouldn’t have really broken tradition. Just the Prom King and his Prince dancing together.” The line is ridiculously cheesy, but Jughead smiles, forgets that they have an audience and smashes his lips against Archie’s.

 

_ There’s nobody, no one, no way _

_ nobody, no one, no way  _

_ And I know it ain’t gonna change,  _

_ There’s nobody, no one, no way who gets me like you do _

_ And I know it ain’t gonna change, you’ll always pull me through _

_ We’re as wild as we can be _

_ I got you and you got me _

_ I got you, you got me _

 

It’s a lazy Sunday morning, several years after the events of Jason Blossom’s murder and Archie and Jughead are curled up in the bed in their bedroom in their apartment. Archie’s at college majoring in music and Jughead is majoring in writing. The two of them spend hours sitting in silence, working on their respective arts, Jughead muttering to himself and Archie humming and softly strumming on his guitar. That’s how they like it and not much is going to change that. This Sunday morning is their anniversary and Archie is planning to make it as romantic as possible. That’s if they make it out of their bed.

It’s evening and Archie has driven the two of them out to the beach, Jughead complaining the entire way because he doesn’t like surprises. Archie just smiles and refuses to say anything. Eventually Jughead shuts up, readjusts his beanie and stares out the window sulking. The beach has golden sand and azure water that reflects the slowly setting sun. Getting a blanket and a basket out of the trunk of his car, Archie leads them down the beach, a few metres away from the sea. He spreads the blanket out and places down the picnic basket. Looking back at Jughead he sees the blush on his cheek as he sits himself down on the blanket, kicking off his shoes. Archie settles down next to him, kicking off his own shoes and kissing Jughead on the temple before reaching into the basket and handing Jughead a burger.

“Are these-” Jughead looks at the paper wrapper with huge eyes before turning to Archie, his eyes are slightly water. “Did you get Pop’s burgers, even though we’re all the way out here?” There’s so much love shining through Jughead’s eyes that Archie has to avert his eyes. He nods, not knowing what to say.

“I love you Archie, so much.” This is the slowest Archie has seen Jughead ever eat a burger, he knows that his boyfriend is savoring the taste, he doesn’t have the heart to tell Jughead he has more, not quite yet.

The sun sets and Archie decides it’s time. He pulls a small box from the basket and gets down on one knee, the sunset framing this moment.

“Forsythe Pendleton Jones the Third, I have had the pleasure of calling you my best friend since kindergarten, and my boyfriend since the end of sophomore year. I’ve called you my Prince, my Princess, my Queen, baby (which for some reason you didn’t like), gorgeous and every other name under the sun. Through all that you have been Jughead Jones, my soulmate, my other half. Would you care to make it Jughead Andrews and let me call you my husband?” It’s not the most romantic proposal but it’s them. Jughead nods, stuck for words for the first time in years. Archie places the simple silver band on his finger, they both look at it before Jughead launches himself at Archie, smashing their lips together in a frantic kiss.


End file.
